Winter Light
by Komaki Nakao
Summary: When Elodie and Lukalart are banished from their hometown of Shella, they set out into the world, ready to write their own story. But in a world full of Miasma and monsters, even a small journey isn't easy.


Though it was a cold, rainy night in Shella, the customers at Madvey's Inn were not deterred from their regular evening schedule. As always, most of the town had gathered there to eat, gossip, or play cards, until last call arrived, and everyone was forced to return home.

Despite the gloominess, the Yukes in the inn knew they were the lucky ones. Outside their city was a dangerous world. A world where the air itself was poison, and the roads were constantly stalked by monsters. If you had asked any of them, they would have been quick to tell you that they would rather spend a lifetime in Madvey's dreary old pub than spend even an hour outside the city without protection.

"I suppose we should be thankful," one of the younger men was saying. "Since the sluice has dried up, I'm sure our friends over in Fum will appreciate the runoff."

"I doubt one shower will be enough to replenish all the water in the river," one of his companions said.

"It might help revive some of the pumpflowers, though."

"Pumpflowers?" a waitress questioned. Though she had a distinctly Clavat appearance, she wore an iron helm on her head, with the visor flipped up – unlike her companions, her vision was impaired by her armor. She also wore Yuke-fashioned robes and shoes, which looked awkward on her shorter, rounder figure.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of them," a nearby customer said.

"Can't say that I have," she shrugged.

"Pumpflowers are, as their name suggests, flowers that pump water," one of the older bar goers explained. "They pump water through the sluice, so it ends up in the Jegon River."

"Oh, I get it," she said. "So if something happens to them, the river dries up."

"Exactly," the elder said. "But since the sluice is so far away from the city, we have to wait until Amidatty and the rest of the caravan returns to revive them."

"Because you need a crystal to get through the Miasma," the girl said, grinning a bit.

"Elodie!" Madvey snapped at his adopted-daughter, when he caught her slacking. "These tables aren't going to clean themselves!"

"Yes, I know!" Elodie said, promptly getting back to work. Her grin, however, only grew as she wiped off and set the freshly vacant table in front of her. The people in the pub didn't realize it, but they had just given Elodie an idea. An idea, when she reflected back on it later, she would mark as the great turning point in her life. An idea that would change the course of history forever.

But, for the time being, Elodie was still a waitress at Madvey's Inn, and her next task was to carry a basket of dirty dishes downstairs to be washed. She was thankful to find that the room was empty, except for Lukalart, who was supposed to be on dish duty that night. Elodie wasn't surprised to find a huge pile of neglected dishes waiting by the sink, while her adoptive-brother sat at the table, examining a loaf of bread.

Elodie stepped closer, knowing that Lu – as most people called him - hadn't noticed her yet. Upon further inspection, she discovered that he was… well, digging a hole in the bread.

When Amidatty, leader of the Shella caravan, had returned from his last venture, he had come into the pub and entertained the entire town by comparing the world to a loaf of Bannock bread. Elodie almost felt bad for the poor guy; half of the town thought he was completely batty, and he had no idea. At any rate, Lu – who happened to be Amidatty's favorite nephew – found this new philosophy fascination. Elodie couldn't help but wonder if this had anything to do with Lu's latest distraction.

"What are you doing?" she asked – if only she had ten gil for ever time she'd asked him that question.

"I'm hollowing out this Bannock Loaf," he said, as if that was a completely normal habit for a teenage boy to have. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Mom's not going to be happy when she finds out you're wasting bread," Elodie sighed. "She makes all that from scratch, y'know."

"If my idea works, we'll never have to wash a single bowl again," Lu said proudly.

"Come again?"

"Watch this," he said, giggling with excitement as he took his mutilated loaf over to the hearth, where a large vat of stew was simmering. Elodie watched her brother fill the hollowed out loaf with stew, and couldn't decide if he was a genius, or just as crazy as his uncle.

"I think I'll call it a bread bowl. This way, you can eat your soup, and then eat the bowl when you're finished," he explained. "Just think about it, El! We could make plates, cups, even spoons! No more soapy water!"

"That's great, Lu," Elodie said, and despite the sarcasm dripping from her mouth, she really did like that idea of the bread _bowl_, and the thought of never having to dip her hands into a sink full of dirty dishes did seem appealing. "But that isn't going to save you from having to wash the dishes that are already dirty."

"Oh, right…" he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at the daunting task before him.

Elodie rolled her eyes; Lukalart was one of the smartest people she had ever met, but he was a bit useless when it came to chores, or any task that didn't interest him, for that matter. If it didn't concern magic, or his airship, it was difficult to get Lu motivated.

"Come on," she said. "I'll help you get started."

"Thank you so much, El," he said, stumbling over to the sink. "Really, I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it," she said, rolling up her sleeves. "I think Dad's kinda frustrated with me, anyway. Maybe if I stay down here long enough, he'll forget about it."

Lu snickered, "Eavesdropping again?"

"Something like that," said Elodie. "But never mind that; I've got an idea."

"Great," Lu said hesitantly. Elodie was a bit notorious for her ideas. Ideas that always seemed to get him in trouble. "What is it?"

"Well, do you know what a pumpflower is?"

"Of course," he said, a bit too cheerfully. "Everyone knows what a pumpflower is."

Elodie grumbled, "_Anyway_, some guys upstairs were saying that the reason the river is drying up is because the pumpflowers wilted."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," said Lu. He honestly hadn't given it much thought, but that was definitely a valid theory.

"Well, I was thinking," she said, her grin returning. "You and I should go fix them."

Lu gulped, "What?"

"You were working on those crystals, right?" she asked. "Those little ones?"

"Well, yes…" he said.

"And they work, right?"

"_It_ works," Lu corrected. "I've only made one."

"But it works," Elodie pressed.

"Y-yes," he stammered. "I mean, I haven't ventured too far with it, but-"

"Perfect," said Elodie. "As soon as this weather clears up, we'll take your crystal, go out into the sluice, and figure out what's wrong with the pumpflowers."

"And… what would this accomplish?" he asked.

"Without water, I'm sure the crops over in Fum are suffering," said Elodie. "Those crops feed a lot of people, right? I don't like the idea of people having to go without food, especially if we can fix the problem. And if we're the ones who fix the pumpflowers, we'll be heroes."

Ah, so that was the motivation. Because of her… well, unknown origins, Elodie wasn't exactly a favorite in Shella, especially amongst the elders, who placed a high value on tradition. Lukalart assumed that was why she wore Yuke clothing, even though their mother had fashioned Elodie several dresses that were better suited for her.

"Or," he said, in a final attempt to talk her out of it. "If we don't fix the problem, we could get in big trouble. Or die. You know how I feel about near death situations."

Elodie snorted, "Where's your sense of adventure?"

Lukalart sighed. Elodie was giving him that look; that look that meant she wasn't going to give up on this scheme, even if he refused to tag along.

He would go, of course. Someone had to keep her out of trouble.


End file.
